Southern Miss
Memphis
Volleyball Eagles Earn 3-1 Victory Over Memphis
11/14/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 14, 2010
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - The Southern Miss volleyball team earned a hard fought 3-1 victory over Memphis Sunday afternoon by the scores of 25-11, 23-25, 28-26, 25-20 to improve to 18-10 on the season and 11-6 in Conference USA.
Memphis fell to 15-13 overall and 6-10 in conference action.
"We came really strong in the first set and I'm proud of the team for playing for Lauren Broom today," coach Abbey Sutherland said. "I'm especially proud of them for coming back in set three. I believe that gave them a lot of confidence going into set four."
Redshirt junior outside hitter Ashley Mell led a trio of Eagles with 13 kills followed by junior middle blocker Amelia Hendrickson with 11 and junior setter Kelsea Seymour with 10.
Seymour dished out 34 assists as junior libero Lisa Knecht tallied a match-high 19 digs. Mell collected her 18th double-double of the season with 17 digs as Seymour notched her first career triple double adding 13 digs and Elizabeth Rinaudo added 12.
The Golden Eagles also tallied four service aces, with Lauren Sears recording two and Halie Ecker and Rinaudo each recording one.
"Individually, Amelia Hendrickson had an outstanding match," Sutherland said. "She was very smart in her hits and did a good job of using the block. She had some great kills in tight situations. Shelby Schacher did a good job of subbing in for Halie. Once again, our defense played well. We outdug Memphis and got momentum through digs and blocks to win the long rallies when it counted. Kelsea also had another solid match today."
Altrese Hawkins led Memphis with 20 kills as Marija Javanovic posted 15. Hajnalka Molnar dished out 50 assists and Christine Bach topped the squad with 19 digs. Cassidy Hawkins notched a match-high nine blocks.
The two teams battled to start the first set, trading points through the first 12 possessions. With the scored tied at 6-6, four consecutive kills by the Eagles put Southern Miss up 10-6. Out of the Tigers' timeout, Maja Kostic had a kill to stop the run, but a Memphis service gave the point right back to the Eagles. As the teams traded points, a solo stuff by Mell ignited another 4-0 run, forcing Memphis to take its last timeout with USM leading 16-8. From there, Southern Miss closed out the set with a 9-3 run for the 25-11 win.
A Sears' ace, Mell and Sears block and Mell kill put Southern Miss up 4-2 to start the set. Memphis had back to back errors as the Eagles pushed their lead to 6-2. Memphis used a 6-3 run to get within 9-8. After battling to a 14-14 tie, Memphis got kills from Altrese Hawkins, Kostic and Vesna Jelic for the 17-14 lead. Memphis pushed its lead to 20-15, but USM fought back to tie the set at 21-21. From there, the teams traded points, but Memphis was able to get a kill and USM error for set point, 24-22. Seymour got the Eagles within 24-23, but Altrese Hawkins ended the set with a kill for the 25-23 win.
The third set started out close until Hawkins' kill started a 6-0 run that put the Tigers up 9-6. Memphis continued to take advantage of several USM miscues in pushing its lead to 14-9. Memphis appeared to be on cruise control, leading 20-13. From there, the Golden Eagles began to claw their way back, starting with a Tiger service error to get within 21-15. An attack error by the Tigers, a combo block of Sarah Jane Bowden and Shelby Schacher and a Hendrickson kill got the Eagles within 21-18. Out of the Memphis timeout, Hawkins got a point for the Tigers on a kill, but Hendrickson came right back with a kill to keep the Eagles within reach. Another Tiger service error followed by back to back USM kills cut the lead to 23-22. USM finally tied the set, 23-23 on a Sears kill out of the timeout. Hawkins and Molnar combined for the block and the first set point. Sears hammered a kill to tie the set again and Mell followed with a kill to give the Eagles a set point at 25-24. Jovanovic tied the set at 25-25 with a kill, but a solo stuff by Seymour had the Eagles at their second set point. Jovanovic had a putaway to tie the set, again, but a Memphis service error and Mell kill gave the Eagles the 28-26 win.
The fourth set started out even for both teams. With the scored tied at 5-5, Southern Miss ran off four straight points to take the 9-5 lead. Out of the Memphis timeout, Hendrickson and Bowden had a block and Bowden produced a kill that push the lead to 11-5. Memphis rallied to tie the set at 16-16. After consecutive kills by Hendrickson and Mell, USM led 20-17. Memphis got within 21-19 with kills by Hawkins, but Sears and Hendrickson combined for a block and Rinaudo added an ace to give the Eagles' the 23-19 lead. Kostic got one more kill for the Tigers as kills from Mell and Seymour sealed the win, 25-20.
Southern Miss will hit the road for its final three matches with stops at East Carolina (Nov. 19), Marshall (Nov. 21) and conclude at Tulane (Nov. 27).
